Shade or curtain holder.



PATENTED AUG. 2, 1904.

H. H. FORSYTH.

SHADE 0B. CURTAIN HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 5, 1903.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

H0 MODEL.

My M Ii z d wz PATENTED AUG. 2, 1904.

H. H. PORSYTH.

SHADE 0R CURTAIN HOLDER.

APPLIOATIOK FILED JAN. 5, 1903.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

H0 MODEL.

PAT'ENTED AUG. 2, 1904.

H. H. FORSYTH.

SHADE OR CURTAIN HOLDER.

APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 5, 1903.

a sums-sum: 3.

N0 MODEL.

W-qfigggg 5,

UNITED STATES Patented August 2, 1904.

HENRY H. FORSYTH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SHADE OR CURTAIN HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 766,681, dated August2, 1904.

Application filed January 5, 1903. Serial No. 137,811. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY H. FORSY'IH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Curtain or ShadeHolders, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a device for frictionally retaining a shade orcurtain in any desired position against the tendency of its actuatingmeans to withdraw the same by rolling it up on the usual roller orotherwise.

More particularly my invention relates to that class of shade-holdingdevices in which the shade is mounted upon a spring-actuated retractingdevice, such as a roller, at one end and is provided with frictiondevices at its other end or intermediate its ends adapted to engagegrooves in the window or other frame, which friction devices arenormally maintained in frictional contact with one or more walls of saidgrooves when the curtain is at rest, and slide in and longitudinally ofsaid grooves when the curtain is being adjusted from one position toanother.

My invention has for its object to improve upon known devices of thisclass more particularly in the direction of providing a more efficientholding device having a greater area of frictional contact with thegrooves and also in the way of providing a device not requiring anyspecial operating devices external of the shade and which may bereleased from frictional contact with the grooves for the purpose ofadjusting the curtain by manipulating the same at any point along thelower margin of the curtain.

To these and other ends my invention consists in a new and improvedshade-holder possessing the characteristics of structure and functionsubstantially as hereinafter described, and more particularly defined inthe claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate my invention in itspreferred form, Figure 1 is a front elevation, partly in verticalsection, of the lower end of a shade or curtain and itscontaining-frame, showing my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is ahorizontal sectional view through the curtain and its frame, taken intwo different horizontal planes. Flg. 3 1s a view generally simllar toFig. 1, illustrating a slight modification. Figs. 4 and 5 are verticaltransverse sectional views through two forms of holding devices, bothembodying the principle of my invention; and Figs. 6, 7, and 8 are viewscorresponding with Figs. 3, at, and 5, respectively. and illustratingadditional modifications of the underlying principle of the invention.

Shade-holders of this general type have hitherto been provided withfriction-heads having stems mounted'in the lower margin of the shade,which stems have been provided with springs tending to separate themendwise, and thus force the friction-heads against the bottom Walls oftheir respective grooves. In some other constructions the friction-headshave been provided with devices for effecting a torsion or canting ofeach head in its respective groove, thereby producing a friction effectbetween the head and the side walls of the groove.

My present invention belongs to that variety of such devices wherein thefriction effect is produced between the head and the side walls of thegrooves primarily, although it may in one or more forms be provided withmeans for effecting an additional frictional engagement with the base ofthe grooves. It is a desideratum, however, to obtain a friction effectcoextensive with the entire length and width of the friction-head; andit is also a desideratum to provide a device wherein the frictiondevices may be released upon grasping the lower margin of the shade andcompressing or otherwise manipulating the supporting and actuatingdevices of the friction-heads at any point along the entire width of thecurtain. Both of these desiderata I have secured in the presentinvention.

Referring to the drawings, 10 designates a shade or curtain in the lowermargin of which is mounted a shade-stick adapted to receive and supportthe stems of the friction-heads. In the usual form of these devices thisshadestick has consisted simply of a tubular rod in which was housed atopposite ends the stems of the friction heads and their actuatingsprings. In accordance with my present in- I vention this shade-stick ispreferably made in' the form of a pair of comparatively thin flat bars11 12, disposed side by side and united along their upper margins byhinges 13. These bars may each preferably be formed of a thin strip ofsheet metal doubled upon itself and at the line of bend being circularlyenlarged to form a tube or sleeve 1l and 12 to receive the stems 14: and15 of frictionheads 14 and 15, respectively. The heads 14 and 15 on eachside of the curtain are vertically-extending members disposed side byside, each having a flat outer surface or wall which is normallymaintained pressed into frictional contact with the adjacent side wallof the groove through the action of a spring 16, interposed between theinner opposed faces of the hinged bars 11 and 12 of the shade-stick, itbeing understood that for the purpose of enabling the friction-heads toautomatically adjust themselves to a frictional contact with the sidewalls of their containing-grooves throughout their entire extent thestems of the friction-heads are so mounted in the sleeves of theshade-stick as to be capable of turning therein. 7

The operation will be readily understood from the foregoing description.When the shade is normally occupying any position to which it may havebeen adjusted, the spring 16 forces apart the two hinged members of theshade-stick, thereby pressing the outer faces of the friction-heads onboth sides of the shade into frictional or holding contact with the sidewalls of their containinggrooves, thereby producing sufiicient frictionto withstand and overcome the tendency of the spring of thewinding-roller to elevate the shade. When, however, the shade is to beadjusted, it is necessary only to grasp and compress the two hingedmembers of the shade-stick sufficiently to withdraw the friction-headsfrom contact with the walls of the groove or, at least, to overcome thefrictional hold which said shoes have to enable the actuating-spring toraise the shade or to enable the operator to lower the shade against theactuating-spring, and it will be observed as constituting an importantfeature of my invention that this release of the friction-heads may beeffected by grasping and compressing the members of the shade-stick atany point along the entire width of the shade. I In some cases I deem itdesirable to provide for a frictional engagement of the heads with thebottom walls of the grooves as well as with their side walls, and this'may be readily effected by simply interposing between the adjacent endsof the stems of the heads a spring. (Shown at 17 in Fig. 3.)

In order to simplify the construction of the two-part shade-stick, thelatter may be so constructed as to combine in a single element thefunctions of the hinge and of the separating-spring, and such aconstruction is illustrated in Fig. 4:, wherein the two members 11and12'of the shade-stick are united along their upper margins by aspring-hinge 18, the normal tendency of which is to separate the. lowerends or margins of the members in the same manner as is done by thespring 16.

Figs. 6, 7, and 8 illustrate, further, permissible variations of thestructure hereinabove particularly described and shown. As shown inthese figures, the heads 14: and 15 which project into the grooves, areformed integral with their respective bars 11 and l2 ,.and the latterare loosely connected along their upper margins by loops 19. WVhere theheads are thus made integral with the bars, they are preferably, thoughnot necessarily, formed to occupy planes slightly oblique to the planesof their respective bars, as clearly shown in Fig. 8, and are alsopreferably slightly rounded or conveXed on their outer faces for moreperfect adjustment into effective frictional contact with the walls ofthe grooves. From this it will be understood that in the broad aspect ofmy invention the spring 17 is not essential, nor the manner of hingingor distending the twin elements of the shade-stick.

The underlying principle of my invention is embodied in alaterally-expansible elastic holding device which is capable of releaseby compression and may of course be constructed and mounted on orconnected to the shade in various ways and rendered elastic by theselection and form of the materials of which the parts are composed orby the aid of independent or supplementary means, such as coiled or leafsprings or a rubber or other elastic means.

I claim I 1. A holdingfixture for spring-actuated shades comprisinglaterally-movable frictionholding heads, two stick members carrying theheads movable transversely relative to each other, means for looselyuniting the stick members and a spring for forcing the stick membersapart to set the heads into holding position.

2. A curtain-fixture comprising a transverselyelastic curtain stick,heads carried thereby, said heads being adapted to engage the side wallsof grooves in a Window-frame and capable of release by compression ofthe stick, substantially as described.

3. The combination with a shade-stick comprising twolongitudinallyextending members, friction-heads carried by said membersand adapted to engage the side walls of grooves of the frame, and meansnormally tending to separate said members and permitting theircompression to release the heads, substantially as described.

4:. In a shade-holder adapted to cooperatewith a grooved frame, thecombination with a spring-actuated shade, of a two-part curtain-stick,the parts of which are connected at one edge to the shade, theiropposite edges IIO being laterally separated, heads carried by the partsof the curtain-stiek and adapted to contact the side walls of thegrooves of the frame, and springs normally tending to separate saidparts, substantially as described.

5. In a shade-holder adapted to cooperate with a grooved frame, thecombination with a two-part curtain-stick, the parts whereof lie side byside, of, friction-heads carried by the respective parts of said curtainstick, and elastic means normally tending to spread apart said parts ofthe curtain-stick and thereby force said friction-heads into holdingengagement with the side walls of the groove of the frame, substantiallyas described.

6. In a shade-holder adapted to cooperate with a grooved frame, thecombination with a two-part curtain-stick, the parts of which are hingedtogether along one edge, of frictionheads carried by the respectiveparts of said cu rtain-stick, and elastic means normally tending tospread and separate said parts of the curtainstick and thereby forcesaid frictionheads into holding engagement with the side walls of thegrooves of the frame, substantially as described.

'7. In a shade-holder adapted to cooperate with a grooved frame, thecombination with a two-part curtain-stick, the parts of which are hingedtogether along one edge, of frictionheads rotatably supported in therespective parts of said curtain-stick, and elastic means normallytending to spread and separate said parts of the curtain-stick andthereby force said friction-heads into holding engagement with the sidewalls of the groove of the frame, substantially as described.

8. In a shade-holder adapted to cooperate with a grooved frame, thecombination with a two-part curtain-stick, the parts of which are hingedtogether along one edge, of frictionheads having stems slidablysupported in the free margins of the curtain-stick, elastic meansnormally tending to spread and separate said free margins of thecurtain-stick thereby forcing said friction-heads into holdingengagement with the side walls of the groove of the frame, and otherelastic means interposed between the opposed ends of said stems of thefriction-heads normally tending to force the latter also into holdingengagement with the bottom wall of the groove, substantially asdescribed.

9. In a shade-holder adapted to cooperate with a grooved frame, thecombination with a two-part curtain-stick, the parts of which are hingedtogether along one edge, of frictionheads having stems slidably androtatably supported in the free margins of said curtainstick, elasticmeans normally tending to spread and separate said free margins of thecurtainstick thereby forcing said friction-heads into holding engagementwith the side walls of the groove of the frame, and other elastic meansinterposed between the opposed ends of said stems of the friction-headsnormally tending to force the latter also into holding engagement withthe bottom wall of the groove, substantially as described.

10. A transversely-compressible curtainstick friction-heads mounted onsaid stick and adapted to engage the walls of a guide-groove, said headsbeing releasable by the transverse compression of said stick,substantially as described.

11. A transverselycompressible curtainstick, friction-heads mounted onthe stick and means for moving the heads outward longitudinally of thestick.

HENRY H. FORSYTH.

\Vitnesses:

SAMUEL N. PoNn, FREDERICK C. Goonwm.

